Romance and Kung Fu
by BluebirdSunflower
Summary: The Jade Palace masters find love. Read it! Don't scroll away! Review! P.S. I could only fit four major characters, all of the Five are in here. Someone mentioned Mulan being a Disney story, they did not make it up, it's actually a real legend in China.
1. The Story of Mulan

We know from the episode "Bride of Po" that Po can only get married if he renounces being Dragon Warrior. However, what if one of those scrolls he reads had an exception to that rule?

This scroll did. "Oh, _wow!_" Po smiled, "This is awesome!" Eagerly he ran and showed the scroll to Shifu. "This says that I can marry a girl if she is descended from Mulan. Now I just have to figure out who Mulan is!"

Shifu groaned, "Panda, Mulan was the very first female warrior in China. Legend says her father was called to war, but was too ill, so Mulan went in his place. I think we have a painting of her in the Artifacts room."

The two pandas (A.N. Shifu is a _red _panda, Po is a _giant_ panda) walked to the room to find the painting. "Here it is," said Shifu, carefully unrolling a piece of parchment. The girl in the portrait was a giant panda, dressed in a general's armor. She had darker fur where her eyebrows would be, and she looked stern. She was pretty and tough at the same time.

"Gee," said Po quietly, "I can't believe I've never heard of her. And now I'm the only panda left."

Or was he?


	2. The Master Archer

"I'M LATE!" the panda wailed as he ran through the village until something caught his eye. A poster stuck to a tree depicted a white crane holding a bow and arrow. "No way!" Po peeled off the poster for a closer look, "It's Master Archer Hou-Yi!"

"PO!" came Shifu's voice from the Jade Palace. Po replaced the poster and hurried to the training hall.

The Furious Five were being taught Shifu's technique for avoiding arrows (A.N. see episode "Shifu's Ex") when Po burst in and shouted excitedly, "Hou-Yi is coming!" The crane was reputed for never missing his target. He was not a fighter, but his skills were quite famous. Monkey told the others how he had once seen Hou-Yi shoot an arrow through the spines of several pitchforks before it hit the bull's-eye. Mantis told them how Hou-Yi could shoot three bull's-eyes blindfolded.

Suddenly there was a knocking at the doors. Crane was closest, so he answered. A female crane with dark black neck feathers, a blue dress, and a basket full of scrolls was outside. "Oh, you must be Master Crane!" she said, a little bashfully. "My name is Tyan. My father sent me here to see the Dragon Warrior."

Crane did not move, he did not speak, he did not even breathe! He had not seen many other cranes the past few years, and Tyan was gorgeous! Finally Po walked up next to him, "I'm the Dragon Warrior."

"My father Hou-Yi requests the honor of your presence at his archery match tomorrow," the crane handed him the basket of scrolls, which were tickets for him, the Five, Shifu, and one extra ticket.

"WHOA! Hou-Yi wants me at his match! And he thinks my presence is an honor!" Po gingerly took the basket and went back inside.

Crane still had not moved or spoken, but he did remember to breathe. Tyan flushed a little as she said, "Well, nice meeting you. We look forward to seeing you there!" The bird stepped back and nearly stumbled down the stairs. The doors had already closed by the time Crane said hello.

* * *

The next day Po had convinced all except Tigress and Shifu to come with him to see Hou-Yi; they gave one of the remaining tickets to Zhang. Po and his friends trotted up to the stands and took their seats. A large, wide area stood between two stands, with several targets at the far end.

An older female crane in a red dress stepped up to the near end of the field and announced, "We now present the Master Archer Hou-Yi -" She was interrupted as the fans broke into applause. The white crane flew from nowhere to give his entrance a more dramatic effect; Po was so excited he nearly wet himself! Hou-Yi swept around his fans heads twice before landing beside the announcer. "And the archer Ren," she continued as a snow leopard stepped up to her other side. The fans booed at the leopard, who ignored them as he and Hou-Yi shook...hands? "Archers, take your positions!"

The first set of targets was placed fifty feet away. The two competitors fired; a fan was asked to evaluate the targets; both were a bull's-eye. The next targets were 100 feet away. A second fan was summoned to declare another pair of bull's-eyes. Fifty yards; a bull's-eye for Hou-Yi with Ren being just the tiniest bit off.

For the one hundred yard target, Ren was allowed to fire first. He got a bull's-eye. Hou-Yi took his place, aiming at the same target. Just as Hou-Yi was about to fire, Ren maneuvered his bow between the crane's legs, striking the tip of his bow so that the arrow flew up into the air. The crowd groaned. Hou-Yi fired another arrow at the one already in the air. The second shot struck the first, tipping it so that it rocketed towards the target. Everyone held their breath as they watched the descent. The arrow split Ren's in half as it struck a perfect bull's-eye! Everyone leapt to their feet and cheered.

"WOW THAT WAS AWESOME!" shouted Po.

"He's still got it!" declared Mantis.

* * *

After most of the spectators had left, Po and his friends approached a large tent. "Do you think he'll sign my belly?" asked the Panda before they let themselves in. The scene inside surprised them.

Three young birds, a crane and two herons, were sitting on the floor in front of a shadow-puppet theater. A gorilla was presented, and the youngest bird jumped up, "You stay away from Syaudi, you mean old ronin, or I'll -" he jumped forward and crashed into the screen, knocking the whole theater down. The two older boys got to their feet with disapproving shouts as they chased the child outside. Behind the theater stood Hou-Yi and Tyan, looking rather startled.

Hou-Yi smiled as he noticed his guests, "The Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five! It is such an honor that you came to see me today!" He stepped out from the rubble and held out a wing, which Po eagerly shook.

"Could you sign my belly?!" blurted the panda before his friends could stop him. The old crane chuckled as he obliged, painting a mark like a drawn bow and arrow on the white fur.

"I'm so glad you came to see my last match," the archer grinned.

"LAST MATCH!?" everyone was surprised.

The bird nodded, "You may have noticed there were only around twenty spectators in the audience. I'm too good at archery, I never miss. The fans are getting bored."

"Well, why don't you throw a match or two?" suggested Monkey.

The archer shook his head, "That would be dishonest. When I get back home, I'm retiring from archery and sticking to puppets."

Crane was not even listening to the conversation; he was staring at Tyan, who smiled back shyly. Suddenly the three young birds came in again, a feminine voice coming from an unseen source behind them, "The next time you throw rice around I'm gonna make you eat it right off the ground!" The boys retreated behind Tyan. Everyone turned to see a red mantis on the ground.

"Hun-ch'ung!? Is that you?!" Mantis grew excited.

"MANTIS! HI!" she answered before they both sprang into a hug.


	3. Dinnertime

"Look at how much you've grown!" said Mantis delightedly. The red mantis walked in a circle to show herself off.

"Who's your friend, Mantis?" Monkey said teasingly. He suspected she was another one of his ex-girlfriends.

"This is Hun-ch'ung, Hao's kid cousin and my best friend growing up," he introduced her.

"'Sup!" she waved a pincer (claw-dealy) as she grinned.

"What are you doing here?" Mantis turned to her.

"After you left home, I went back to Shou village where I was born. Tyan is my friend, so I tagged along."

The rest of the day, Crane and Mantis showed Tyan and Hun-ch'ung around the village. Po, in the meantime, tried to think of a way to put off Hou-Yi's retirement from archery. He would offer to shoot against the crane, but archery was not one of his strong suits. Perhaps Hou-Yi could shoot against one of the Five or Shifu. When Crane brought Tyan to the Jade Palace, Po invited her and her family to dinner.

That night, Po suggested to Hou-Yi and the Five his idea. The old crane pondered it, "It might be worth doing, but I still think I'll retire. I don't know when I'll ever be back in the Valley of Peace for more matches, and I'm sure you guys aren't going to be allowed to leave just for a competition with me." Tigress and Monkey agreed to shoot at the tournament the next day.

Mantis and Hun-ch'ung clearly had not been listening; they were whispering and snickering to each other. "What's so funny?" asked Hou-Yi's wife Tyandi, who had been the announcer earlier that day.

"Sorry, it's an inside joke," chuckled Mantis.

"How did you guys meet?" asked Viper.

"Well, I'm about six years older than Hun-ch'ung, so I didn't pay her much attention when she first came to the village."

The red mantis interrupted, "My dad was dead and my mom had just gone to jail for stealing food, so I had to live with Cousin Hao and her parents."

Mantis nodded, "One day some kids were grouped around a wall, and I heard a girl crying, so I hopped over and they were beating Hun-ch'ung with twigs. So I beat them up and they ran crying for their mommies!" He and Hun-ch'ung laughed at the memory. "And after that, we started doing practically everything together."

"So why didn't you propose to her instead of Hao?" teased Monkey.

The red mantis threw one of her chopsticks at the monkey, "Because I was a kid, fuzzbrain!"

"_Was?_" Tigress whispered to Viper, causing the snake to smile.

"May I confess something to you, Dragon Warrior?" Tyandi suddenly asked. Po shrugged, nodding his head as Shif entered the room. "From what Syaudi told us, I thought he and his daughter were the last pandas in China." Her family and Hun-ch'ung nodded.

Po stared wide-eyed a moment, then burst out, "WHAT!? PANDAS!? WHERE, WHEN, HOW'D THEY ESCAPE SHEN!?"

"Po!" Shifu's call was not loud but stern.

Po hopped up and down in his seat, "But I've never seen another panda before!"

Hou-Yi nodded, "We understand, Po. Several years before Shen's attack, Syaudi and a girl named Chwun Yu went to Japan to study the samurai's code of bushido. One day they received a message that the pandas' village had been attacked, and when they came home they found no survivors. They traveled until they came to Shou Village. Chwun Yu is gone now, but she and Syaudi had a daughter named Chwun Hwa."

Po glanced sadly at the table a moment before he looked up again, "Do you think I could meet them sometime? Just to see other pandas, that would be so awesome!"

Hou-Yi grinned, "Sure, when we get home, we'll talk to Syaudi and Chwun Hwa about them coming to the Valley of Peace."


	4. Meeting the Pandas

As Po had suspected, more people came to see Hou-Yi face Tigress and Monkey in archery. Hou-Yi was given a run for his money for nearly two hours. Whether it was boredom, not factoring for the wind, or fatigue in their arms, the two members of the Furious Five lost, being just the tiniest bit off-target. The next day the family and Hun-ch'ung went home, promising to talk to the pandas about visiting Po.

* * *

It was only a day or two later that the Jade Palace heard from Shou Village.

_To the masters of the Jade Palace,_

_The panda Syaudi and his daughter Chwun Hwa are very pleased to hear of the existence of another panda and are highly honored to be invited to the Valley of Peace. They ask only permission to bring a few bodyguards and other servants. On another note, I hope to see you soon Shifu._

_Signed, Amah_

"AMAH!" cried the red panda with a smile. Po had run off shouting how awesome it would be to finally meet other pandas.

"Who's Amah?" asked Tigress.

"She was someone I met a long time ago. When I was first training at the Jade Palace, she came with some refugees from the south. She was very sick and undernourished when she first arrived. When she was well enough to speak she told me she was from a country south of China, which was at war. Her husband, an officer, had been killed by the enemy, and she and her twins would also be targeted. She traveled north with her baby twins, but became ill when she entered China. Finding no one to take her children, she had to leave them by the side of the road, then wandered away until she fell unconcious and was picked up by the refugees. We became very close, and before she left to try and find her twins she gave me a Master Yao's traveling box action figure."

"So that's where you got it!" cried Po delightedly, returned from his running. Shifu glared at him a little before instructing everyone to begin cleaning the Palace.

* * *

"She's almost here!" whispered Shifu, watching something through his telescope and squirming giddily. Po was just as excited, watching the gateway.

Sometime later, a swan landed in the court yard, panting. "Masters," she panted, "I have come with Syaudi. We had just entered the village when Syaudi's daughter collapsed in front of a restaurant. The owner let us take her inside, he said he was the Dragon Warrior's father -"

Po and his friends ran down to the village before the swan could finish. She flew behind them. At Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop, a red panda and a tigress stood guard at the doorway. The red panda looked around middle-aged and had red fur all over his face. The tigress had white fur and no stripes. She was a little taller and slimmer than Tigress and wore gray clothes.

"Who are you?" the red panda asked as the group approached. He held a spear.

"I'm the Dragon Warrior, this is my Dad's shop!" panted Po. The red panda noticed the swan with them and allowed them in. The white tigress leaned against the wall, casually observing everything.

In the eating area (A.N. I don't know what to call it, a courtyard?) another red panda, a tiger, and a large snake were speaking to Mr. Ping. They turned when the Jade Palace masters entered. The tiger was a head taller than Tigress, had broad shoulders and chest, and had reverse colors; black with orange stripes. The red panda looked exactly like the one outside, except female. The snake raised himself up so that he towered over them all; he was huge!

"Hi there," Po greeted, a little nervous of the snake.

"This is my son, the Dragon Warrior!" Ping introduced proudly. Po introduced his friends.

"Hey, I'm Chiszle," began the tiger, "and these are Ungwa," he nodded to the red panda, "and Hsiao Lung," the snake bobbed his head. "My sister Lihai and Ungwa's brother Shei-He are outside," continued Chiszle, who appeared to be checking out Tigress.

About that moment, a large panda emerged from the restaurant. He wore cotton robes and had a short white beard and mustache, and a samurai headband wrapped over his eyes. He carried a walking stick which he tapped on the ground; he was blind. "And this is Prince Syaudi!" declared Chiszle.

The swan went over to the panda and led him by the hand. "Thank you, Syau Yen," the panda said.

Po was completely awed. He had been dreaming for ages about meeting other pandas, but now he could not think of anything to say. And Chiszle had said Syaudi was a prince! Syau Yen helped him by placing Po's hand in Syaudi's. "Nice to meet you," Syaudi said gently.

The other masters were introduced to Syaudi, then Monkey asked, "Are you really a prince?"

"I was, but I have nothing to be a prince of," sighed Syaudi sadly.

Another female red panda came out of the building, a bit older than the twins. "Amah!" blurted Shifu before he could contain himself, then he continued a little more composedly, "Very nice to see you again!"

"Hallo, Shifu!" she answered in an accent. Then she turned to Syaudi, "she has fever, but very low. Should be better tamarrow." Syaudi nodded.

"Is there anything we can do?" volunteered Crane.

Syaudi shook his head, "My daughter fainted when we got here. She's always getting sick! She's too thin for a panda! Her mother died in a flood when she was four, and she's just never had a good appetite since."

* * *

They spent the rest of the night at the restaurant, getting acquainted and keeping watch over Chwun Hwa (well, her dad, Crane and the women did). The next morning, Amah asked Po to take a bowl of noodle soup to Chwun Hwa. The panda went up to his room, stopping at the top of the steps. Chwun Hwa was about as tall as Po, but she was only as big around as Tigress! That is extremely underweight for a giant panda.

She wore a maroon dress. Her head was perfectly round, and the black patches over her eyes did not stretch much further than the eyelids. Her long, black hair had been tied in a bun, which was now coming loose. Po did not want to wake her up; she looked so beautiful and delicate!

"Baba!?" she cried as her emerald eyes snapped open. She looked at Po, surprised, but not alarmed. "Where am I?"

Po loved her voice! It was soft as silk. "You're at Mr. Ping's, in the Valley of Peace. He's my Dad; I'm Po, the Dragon Warrior." The female seemed satisfied with his answer. She settled back into the bed. Po smiled nervously, then stepped up to the bed. "Amah asked me to make sure you eat this," he offered her the bowl.

Chwun Hwa glanced at him, "Thank you, Po. You can set it down. I'll eat later, I'm not very hungry right now."

"Oh, no you don't!" Po smiled, "You haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Lookit how thin you are!"

Chwun Hwa sat up and held up her arms, which were trembling a little, "My hands are shaking. I'll eat later, when they're steady."

"Nice try!" Po would not be put off. He sat on the edge of the bed and held out a spoonful of soup to the girl. Chwun Hwa looked at him a moment, then smiled and opened her mouth. Po made sure she ate every last bite before he left.


	5. First Day

When Po came back downstairs, Hsiao Lung was asking, "Is it true that Master Oogway is dead?"

Shifu and his students lowered their heads sadly, "Yes, I'm afraid he is."

The giant snake groaned and shut his eyes tightly, "He was my uncle."

A chorus of "WHAT!?" filled the restaurant.

The snake opened his eyes again, "I'm from the same island Oogway was born. He had many brothers and sisters. One little sister was married to my grandfather's brother. When Oogway's siblings had all passed away, the family thought someone should look for Oogway to tell him. Since I didn't have any responsibilities at home, I volunteered. But when I came to China two years ago, I heard that he'd already passed. I've been living in Shou Village ever since. I just didn't know how I was supposed to tell my family."

"We are very sorry for your losses," Shifu offered after a moment of silence. The snake nodded in gratitude.

"Hey Dad," Po tried to lighten the conversation, "Chwun Hwa liked your soup!"

"Is she awake?" asked Syaudi, his back turned to Po but his head tilted upwards in a listening gesture.

"Yep, she ate the whole bowl!" the Dragon Warrior proudly answered. The older panda stood up and began tapping his way inside, Ungwa leading him by the hand.

"Varry goot, thank you, Po (pronouned more like paw)" Amah nodded to him with a smile.

* * *

Chwun Hwa was on her feet within an hour. The Jade Palace masters were shocked to see a giant panda so thin. Po offered her and her friends a visit to the palace, which they gladly accepted. (Everyone had taken cat naps during the night.) Syaudi and Chwun Hwa had to stop once in a while climbing the steps (A.N. Seriously, why can't the palace be closer to the village!), but it was worth it. The first sight to see was the Hall of Heroes. Chwun Hwa proved to know as much about kung fu and the artifacts as Po, although her enthusiasm was much more controlled. And when they passed the jar with the souls of the army (A.N. I forget the official name of it) and Po spun around, accidentally knocking it from its pedestal, Chwun Hwa dove onto her back and rescued it.

"Nice catch!" Po chuckled embarrassed.

"You should put this on a safer shelf," she answered, placing the jar carefully back.

"That's what I've been saying!" Po grinned.

* * *

The final part of the tour was the training hall. Po and the Furious Five showed off some of their moves; Tigress navigated through the spinning targets at Shifu's request, Mantis hopped from the turning poles through the spiked rings hanging from the ceiling, Viper danced around through the fire pit, and Po and Monkey spun around in the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom before giving their Dizzy Kung Fu demonstration.

The dizzy kung fu tickled Chiszle's funny bone, "Alright guys, respect, let me 'n Hsiao Lung give 'er a try!" The tiger and snake allowed the panda and monkey to spin them around in the Tortoise before falling out to fight. They were terrible! Hsiao Lung tried to raise himself up, but he swayed side-to-side and could not focus on Chiszle, who was trying to punch about three different Hsiao Lungs who were not there.

Po laughed as he caught the snake, who seemed to be collapsing, "You gotta go with the dizzy. If you want to go this way, you gotta go _this_ way." Hsiao Lung shook his head to clear himself, then followed the panda's advice. The giant snake managed to wrap his coils around his friend's waist, winning the game. When the boys were done, Lihai gave the training equipment a try, and she was about as good as Tigress once she accounted for the arms striking from behind or foot-level.

When they had all gone outside, Syaudi announced, "And now my daughter and I would like to give a demo, if she is feeling up to it."

"I am, Baba (daddy)," she answered bluntly. Syaudi pulled at the top of his walking stick, which was actually the sheath of a tanto (short katana) sword. He passed the blade to Chwun Hwa, keeping the wooden sheath for himself. Everyone else stood clear, the Five, Po and Shifu worried for the younger panda's health and the older panda's blindness.

Chwun Hwa held the sword out in front of her, circling around the bigger panda. Syaudi held the sheath like a sword and barely moved, obviously waiting for her to strike first. She was just behind him and to his left when she attacked; he held the sheath out to block her sword, then spun around to face her. Chwun Hwa backed off two steps and slowly circled around again, but this time he turned with her. Suddenly she leapt up into the air, twisting around as she landed at his right arm; he spun around in time and blocked her again. Then he spun the sheath around his head to strike down on her, but she easily blocked the blow with her blade. The sword and sheath clashed as the two pandas attacked and defended against each other until Syaudi twisted the sheath around the blade so that it was wrenched from his daughter's hands. Just as he lunged at her with the point of the sheath, Chwun Hwa whipped out a metal fan, which she caught the sheath with. Wrenching it away from her father, she held it up like a sword, the tip pointing at his neck, but when she lunged he caught onto it with both hands, preventing her from pulling it away. Taking out her fan again, she swiped it horizontally at his face.

As the fight continued, it was clear that Chwun Hwa's smaller size gave her an advantage; she could maneuver much faster than her father, who had the advantage of experience on his side. Finally, with no clear winner, the two pandas parted and bowed to each other amidst applause. "THAT WAS AWESOME!" declared Po.

* * *

Later Po had convinced Chwun Hwa, Hsiao Lung, the red panda twins, and the tiger siblings to sled down the palace steps on shields with him. Just as they were about to start, "HEY!"

They turned to see Amah trot over to them with Shifu close behind. "What you tink you do?" she demanded.

"Panda," began Shifu, looking straight at Po, "You shouldn't be -"

"You do wrong!" Amah interrupted. "In my day we stand on shield, not sit down like cowerds!" With that, she took a shield from Ungwa and surfed down the stairs, whooping delightedly with the younger animals following behind, laughing, Ungwa sharing a seat with her brother.

Shifu was left alone staring after them. "I was going to say, you shouldn't be endangering our guests," he said to no one.


	6. Second Day

That night, Po could not get to sleep. He was thinking about Chwun Hwa, and he was becoming a bit wary about being friends with her. The two girls he had previously had "relationships" with turned out to be a thief and a girl whose brother was being held hostage. Would Chwun Hwa be the real thing? Did she even like him? What would be the best way to find out?

* * *

Chwun Hwa did not know exactly what time it was when a knock at the door woke her up, but she was sure it was quite late. She was sharing a room with Amah, Ungwa, Syau Yen, and Lihai, but since she was closest to the door and a light sleeper the others were still asleep. Carefully she got up and went to the screen door, where she whispered, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Po," came the Dragon Warrior's voice.

Chwun Hwa was wary to open the door yet, so she whispered, "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to show you the Kung Fu Museum!" he whispered back.

Chwun Hwa slid the screen open a crack, just enough so she could see the other panda. "It is very late, Po. Shouldn't we wait until tomorrow?" she asked.

"There's always a big line. Sunrise is still a few hours away, we can be there and back in no time!" he smiled excitedly.

Chwun Hwa considered it a moment. If she stayed up much longer, she would be very tired tomorrow and her father and Amah would suspect something was up. On the other hand, she would like to avoid the crowds and all their noise. The small panda slid the door silently and slipped out, shutting the door quietly behind her. Po took her by the hand and led her out to the museum.

Both pandas' hearts were pounding; Chwun Hwa's from the thrill of being out after hours with no one knowing and the risk of being caught, Po's from holding the girl's hand and the fact that she had hesitated to join him. Surely a thief or betrayer would have accepted the invitation immediately.

When they reached the museum, they dropped in from the roof. Unfortunately, Po stumbled and crashed, making a hole in the ceiling. "Quick, into the shadows!" he whispered and rolled into a dark corner. Chwun Hwa, thinking he was indirectly warning her about a guard, swiftly disappeared in the shadows. Turns out, there was no guard. The two pandas hurried through most of the museum, the female naming every artifact they passed, and naming them correctly! Once again, Po was on his guard.

Neither of them paid much attention to the time once they reached the Masters Exhibit. Chwun Hwa asked to hear of when Po went to Gongmen City to defeat Lord Shen, and when the story was over they turned to see...

"Whoa, look at the Shifu exhibit!" Po ran over to the stern-looking red panda.

"Po," the smaller panda tried to warn him.

Shifu cleared his throat, causing the Dragon Warrior to cry out. "You may go," the red panda said to the girl.

"I'm afraid I'm as guilty as Po," she smiled guiltily.

"Very well. Here," he held up a pair of trowels in their faces. "Doors open in twenty minutes."

Each giant panda took a trowel and a bucket of goop to repair the ceiling. "Twenty minutes," Po muttered to himself, "I can do this, I can patch any roof -" he suddenly slipped on some goop he had spilled and stumbled backwards into the sarcophagus of Su Woo, which locked itself once he was inside. Chwun Hwa had looked over startled when she heard him crashing into the cage, and now she was laughing. Po smiled widely, loving the sound of her laugh.

Soon she had let him out, still giggling. "I can't even remember the last time I've laughed," she smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, Po."

The male panda blushed, turning his head aside as he waved her off, "It was nothin'!"

* * *

Later that day, Po took Chwun Hwa around the village. Along the way, he noted that she stopped protesting whenever he gave her something to eat. When they got back to the palace, they saw the tigers in the courtyard. Lihai was standing aside as Tigress swung her fists at Chiszle, who had his hands behind his back and had a huge grin as he jumped easily away from her punches.

"What's the matter, Tigress?" Po called to his friend.

"He won't stop pestering me!" she growled, dropping onto her hands as she swept her foot at Chiszle, trying to knock him off his feet.

The taller tiger leapt back, still grinning. "All I did was ask her out!" he defended. "'Sup, Hwa!"

Po leaned a little towards the smaller panda, "He _probably_ shouldn't have done that. Tigress isn't very social." Just as he said it, Tigress managed to punch the tiger in his jaw. He was still grinning, unfazed.

Chwun Hwa whispered back to Po, "He's not the type to give up."


	7. Budding Romances?

"The sharpei army had the 10 Tigers on the edge of the cliff, no hope of escape!" Chiszle spread his arms dramatically, "But the Midnight Stranger said 'If we go down, we're taking you with us!'"

"How could a bunch of puppy dogs beat ten tigers?" interrupted Mantis.

"They didn't beat 'em, they got 'em outnumbered and surrounded, now be quiet and listen!" scolded Lihai. "Continue, little brother."

"So the Liger, the biggest of the 10 Tigers, he gets down on all fours and charges right inta the dogs, bowlin' 'em over like tall grass! And the Siberian, he jumped over the Albino's head and landed in the middle of a group, and they popped up and out in a cloud of smoke!"

The Palace Masters and their guests were at the dining table after dinner. Chiszle was telling a story about a group called the 10 Tigers, rumored to dwell around the land around Shou village. The Tigers were heroes, kung fu masters who protected the innocent. Their group included the Midnight Stranger, the Liger, the Siberian, the Albino, the Bengal, the little Sumatran, Bali, Agouti, the Malayan, and the Maltese. The others were listening intently, especially Po and Tigress. None of the Jade Palace dwellers had ever heard of the 10 Tigers, but Po was a fan of anything kung fu, and Tigress was interested in learning more about the Midnight Stranger. Apparently, the tiger had had his start in the Valley of Peace, but moved on when he was no longer needed there.

As Chiszle continued the story (which ended in a victory for the tigers, don't worry), Viper looked sideways at Hsiao Lung. At first sight, she had been frightened by his immense size. It turned out he was just as kind and gentle as she was, but he was extremely shy around her. His friends claimed he was that way around any female snake. It had made Viper smile, and she set about trying to get the giant to act his normal, friendly self around her.

It had not gone as she hoped; she started with, "What kind of snake are you, exactly?" The guy had lowered his head, eyes going back and forth as he stuttered an answer that sounded like "an-an-con-con-ada-da-da".

Luckily Shei-He came by and translated, "His kind call themselves anaconda."

Viper tried another question, "Is Hsiao Lung your real name or a Chinese translation?"

Shei-He squinted his eyes and tilted his head back, "It's some hard to pronounce, Ketie-zally, Ket-ket-quet, Zal-a-kettle, _what_?"

Hsiao Lung turned to the red panda, "_Quetzalcoatl_, it is a dragon in our stories. That is why my friends call me Hsiao Lung, Little Dragon." The whole afternoon the anaconda could not answer the viper directly, he would stutter until one of his friends either translated or stuck around so he could address his answers to them, as though they would take the message to Viper.

Back in the present, Hsiao Lung still had not worked up the guts to talk to Viper directly, and he seemed a bit uncomfortable with her sitting right next to him.

Po sat in between Chwun Hwa and Syaudi, sharing a bowl of his sticky dumplings. Tigress had sat next to Lihai, and now found that in doing so she allowed Chiszle to sit on her other side, much to her chagrin. The guy was so much like Po! Overly friendly, excitable, fun-loving, strong, and admittedly a little smarter and humorous. He had constantly asked Tigress to go to dinner with him while he was in the village. Tigress did not date! Romance could disrupt her chi.

Amah sat on a stool by the door, knitting. Shifu stood beside her, hands behind his back. Trying to avoid notice, he casually glanced sideways at her. Time had caused her fur to tinge gray, and she walked slower, but otherwise she seemed the same as when they were teenagers. The dark marks around her eyes highlighted the bright green orbs, which keenly followed the needles speedily turning yarn into a sash. Oh, he wanted to tell her, he had always wanted to tell her how beautiful he thought she was, but now it would be beneath his dignity. Besides, she had a home and young ones to look after; apparently after finding her twins she had become the nursemaid to the son of Shou's magistrate, and later his son and Chwun Hwa. And he did not know what she thought of him, besides friend. Why should she stay here, with him?


End file.
